A murder in a crowded theater leaves a pack of suspects, but only one clue.

Despite the dismal Broadway season, Gunplay continues to draw crowds. A gangland spectacle, it’s packed to the gills with action, explosions, and gunfire. In fact, Gunplay is so loud that no one notices the killing of Monte Field. In a sold-out theater, Field is found dead partway through the second act, surrounded by empty seats. The police hold the crowd and call for the one man who can untangle this daring murder: Inspector Richard Queen. With the help of his son Ellery, a bibliophile and novelist whose imagination can solve any crime, the Inspector attacks this seemingly impenetrable mystery. Anyone in the theater could have killed the unscrupulous lawyer, and several had the motive. Only Ellery Queen, in his debut novel, can decipher the clue of the dead man’s missing top hat.

I read a lot of “vintage” mysteries and enjoy them. The Roman Hat Mystery, however, was just not that good, but it’s the first in the series, so I’m willing to give the Queens another chance. I liked Ellery, even if he is a bit in the background here, mostly observing, and his dad is an interesting man. One of the problems with this mystery is that it could only have taken place in the 20s, which is good and bad at the same time. It gives us a picture of a bygone era, complete with bootleg liquor, gents who have to have a top hat when attending the theater, and way too much snuff. The women are either over-looked or not quite honest.

Inspector Queen moves quickly between angry and cheery, depressed and “on the hunt.” It’s a little disconcerting, but the reader, Robert Faas, pulls it off well. He made me feel the differences between the two Queens and also his intonation made the dated phrases work without sounding cheesy to the modern listener.

I liked how the whole mystery was put together, although the reader was given all the clues. Once we knew the whole story it made perfect sense, even why the top hat was so important. It wasn’t quite fair though, especially when we are asked during an interlude who we believe the culprit is.

I guess it’s expected but the story is pretty racist, including the solution to the whodunnit, and sexist, overly so. It’s too much grounded in the 20s attitudes to be thoroughly enjoyable. Or maybe it’s not a good enough mystery to overlook the issues.

The Ellery Queen series is one of the classic mystery series. I’m thinking maybe this first was not a good example of the books.

Ellery Queen Series

The Roman Hat Mystery

The French Powder Mystery

The Dutch Shoe Mystery

The Greek Coffin Mystery

The Egyptian Cross Mystery

The American Gun Mystery

The Siamese Twin Mystery

The Chinese Orange Mystery

The Spanish Cape Mystery

The Lamp of God

Halfway House

The Door Between

The Devil to Pay

The Four of Hearts

The Dragon’s Teeth AKA The Virgin Heiresses

Calamity Town

There Was an Old Woman AKA The Quick and the Dead

The Murderer is a Fox

Ten Days’ Wonder

Cat of Many Tails

Double, Double

The Origin of Evil

The King is Dead

The Scarlet Letters

The Glass Village

Inspector Queen’s Own Case

The Finishing Stroke

The Player on The Other Side

…and on the Eighth Day…

The Fourth Side of The Triangle

A Study in Terror AKA Ellery Queen vs Jack The Ripper

Face to Face

The House of Brass

Cop Out

The Last Woman in His Life

A Fine and Private Place

This was my fourth book for R.I.P. VIII, a reading event embracing the ghastly and ghostly, mysterious and grim, hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings.

I have a few of these lying around, waiting to be read, but I haven’t done so yet. I’m actually thinking I’m on mystery burnout right now, and I don’t want to push it. I think I may get to them next year.

Thanks for the fine review and your kind words about my reading. I’m honored to have been the first narrator approved by the Ellery Queen estate (there are now a handful) to record the series. There are apparently over 80 books – and, having recorded the first two in the series and now preparing to record #13, THE DEVIL TO PAY, I can tell you that the series definitely evolves. (#2 is cut from the same cloth as #1, and features a great opening: the discovery of a body in a Murphy bed that unfolds in the display window of a 5th Avenue department store. THE DEVIL TO PAY takes place in Hollywood, was written nearly a decade later and is much sharper, with a touch of social satire.) It’s a wonderful challenge to juggle such a large and colorful cast of characters and to sink into the world of the books. I hope you’ll keep listening!